Cooking, and particularly barbecuing, requires rotation of the food articles being cooked to alternately expose the top and bottom surfaces thereof. As a result of the wide use of portable barbecues, efforts have been made to develop a portable barbecue grill incorporating means for rotating the food articles during the cooking process. An early arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 695,096 issued to Faivre. In Faivre, two grills, each comprising the usual frame and plurality of cross bars, are releasably secured in face to face relation, the articles to be cooked being disposed between the grills. A pivot frame having a handle is pivotally secured to the midpoints of opposite sides of one of the grills. Latch means on the pivot frame cooperate with a receiving member on one grill for releasably retaining the grills in a horizontal position. To rotate the grills, the latch is released, whereupon the grills are free to pivot in the pivot frame about the pivot points. After the grills have been rotated, the latch member is reinserted into a second receiving member on the other side of the grill for again securing the grills in the horizontal position. A similar arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 557,096 issued to Aldrich. While the Aldrich and Faivre devices serve their intended purpose, they are somewhat cumbersome as they do not incorporate any means for supporting the grill above the flame.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,826,981 issued to Chick discloses a rotatable grill disposable over a barbecue pit. More particularly, the Chick arrangement comprises the usual two grills releasably secured together, with the food articles disposable between the grills. A pivot bar is secured to one of the grills along its longer axis, the ends of the pivot bar extending beyond the grill on both sides. A handle bar is secured to the edge of one of the grills in parallel relation to the pivot bar, the ends of the handle bar also extending beyond the grill on both sides thereof. In use, the grill is disposed above a barbecue pit having opposite vertical walls, with only the ends of the pivot bar and handle bar resting on the walls. The grill is rotated for cooking both sides of the food articles by manipulating the handle bar for rotating the grills 180.degree. about the pivot bar until the handle bar again comes to rest on the upper walls of the barbecue pit on the other side of the pivot bar. A similar arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,025,782 issued to Stall. While the Chick and Stall devices incorporate means for supportng the device above the flame, they are deficient in certain respects. In particular, during rotation, half the width of the grill drops below the horizontal with the possibility of interference with the flame. This requires the device to be placed sufficiently high above the flame to avoid such interference with the consequence that the cooking process is slowed. In addition, it will be apparent that the Chick and Stall devices may only be used with barbecue pits where the walls are properly spaced to support the ends of the pivot and handle bars.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,638,841 issued to Boyce discloses a rotatable grill which employs a motor to effect rotation. Such a grill is only usable in proximity to a source of electricity. In addition, during rotation, as in the Chick and Stall devices described above, half the width of the grill extends below the horizontal, with the consquence that the grill must be supported sufficiently high above the flame to avoid interference therewith.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,091,170 issued to Wilson discloses an arrangement comprising two releasably mated rectangular grills and a pair of rods secured to opposite sides of one of the grills substantially at the midpoints thereof. A pair of frame supports extend upwardly on either side of the joined grills, each frame support having a hole for receiving one of the rods. The free end of one of the rods is bent back toward its frame support which is provided with an additional plurality of holes for receiving the free end. By releasing the free end from these holes, the grills may be rotated to a new position whereupon the free end of the rod may be reinserted into another hole. Although the patent discloses that the grills may be rotated to a vertical position, there is no disclosure nor is there apparently any way for rotating the grills 180.degree.. In addition, when the grill is in the vertical position, it suffers from the same deficiences as the above mentioned devices, namely, half of the width of the grill extends beneath the horizontal.
U.S. Pat. No. 870,117 issued to Miller and U.S. Pat. No. 4,144,870 issued to Reynolds disclose arrangements for raising and lowering a cooking grill to adjust the spacing therefor relative to the heat source. However, neither discloses means for rotating the grill 180.degree.. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,144,870, for example, heat sources are provided both above and below the grill. In U.S. Pat. No. 870,117, the grill is movable to a substantially vertical position, but cannot be fully rotated.